November 28, 2007 - With U.S. cigarette sales declining at an average rate of about 2% a year and sales of smokeless tobacco products rising at about 6% each year tobacco companies have turned to a product called SNUS. SNUS is a smokeless, spitless moist snuff that has been part of the Swedish culture for over 200 years. Many people consider a product like SNUS to be less dangerous than cigarettes because many of the disease-causing toxins associated with smoking are created when tobacco is burned. The Swedes with SNUS being a part of their heritage always have had a low prevalence of smoking. As a result rates of lung cancer in men has been the lowest of any country in Europe. Smokeless tobacco has been considered a dirty habit because in a social setting it can be difficult to hide since the user has to spit and it can be messy. In the United States at the end of the 19th century anti-spitting laws were in force, indicting smokeless tobacco’s loss socially acceptability. (Smokeless tobacco was rapidly replaced with cigarettes – the same could happen again; “Suckers today, smokers tomorrow.”) The one property that makes SNUS tolerable is that it is promoted as being “spitless.” The SNUS packet has to be tucked under the upper lip and kept there for several minutes without movement. If movement occurs more saliva will be produced and the urge to spit will increase. Drooling can be a problem, especially for the inexperienced user and any juice that is swallowed contains lots of toxins including carcinogens. More and more studies are surfacing that indicates SNUS users are at an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. In addition, a lesion can form at the location in the mouth where the SNUS is continually placed. - INCOMPLETE... Read more...

November 28, 2007 - RJR drops print ads... R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said yesterday that it will not advertise its cigarette brands in newspapers and consumer magazines next year. The company said it will focus cigarette marketing in three areas - direct mail and Web sites to age-verified and certified adult smokers, age-restricted events and venues, and retail to adult smokers. “This was a business decision, designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing programs,” said Jan Smith, a spokeswoman for Reynolds. Smith said that Reynolds takes many “industry and corporate social-responsibility issues” into consideration when making business decisions. She said that Reynolds could resume print ads depending on “changing business needs.” Most recent protests have targeted the Camel No. 9 brand extension, started in February, particularly ads in 11 women’s magazines that the groups said target females under 18. Reynolds has said that Camel No. 9 and its marketing focus on adult female smokers. (Winston Salem Journal, Richard Carver, 11/27/2007) Let's Hope this Also Includes Camel SNUS ads. Related News Briefs: Camel No.9 - October 19, 2007 and Camel SNUS - October 5, 2007. An insert in Rolling Stone magazine (November 15, 2007 issue) sponsored by Camel cigarettes is under fire from The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids because, they say, it blurs the line between advertising and editorial content — and worse yet, features cartoons. ( Antismoking Activist Calls Rolling Stone Insert ‘One Great Big Cigarette Ad,’ by Stuart Elliott, New York Times, 11/26/2007) Click on image to enlarge..Read more...

November 27, 2007 - More and more Quebec teens are giving up cigarettes. But many of them are switching to cigars and cigarillos. And that has health advocates worried. The Quebec Institute on Statistics says the number of teens smoking cigarettes has gone down by 4 per cent in two years: about 15 per cent lighting up. But cigars are bucking that trend, with sales of cigarillos in candy flavours like raspberry, peach and mint chocolate up 300% in Quebec. And kids are eating them up: 22 per cent up from 18 per cent since 2004. Anti-smoking groups like the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health fear their popularity could fuel a kid-friendly smoking revival. "It's almost like candies. A teenager can see that it's something you can try like chewing gum." Spokesman Mario Bujold. "You can get addicted to cigarillos as well as to cigarettes." They can be also be bought as singles at any depanneur (convenience store), something Bujold says needs to be strictly enforced or changed: to be sold like cigarettes, in packs, behind the counter, complete with big, frightening warnings of health risks. (Shuyee Lee, CJAD, Montreal's Newstalk Leader, 11/21/2007) More background:Cigarillos: Big Tobacco's Candy-Coated Chicanery, flavoured cigars send teens smoke signals. Quebec moves to ban singles", John Stobo, National Review of Medicine, Patients & Practice, volume 4 no. 8, 4/30/2007. See related News Briefs: November 24, 2007, November 22, 2007, November 20, 2007, November 2, 2007, and May 16, 2007. Read more...

November 26, 2007 - UST has long pursued a strategy focused on getting smokers to put down their cigarettes and make a permanent switch to smokeless or use these products in places such as the office, a hotel room, or a restaurant where smoking is forbidden. But UST’s experience shows that Altria Group's Philip Morris and Reynolds will have an uphill battle in teaching smokers to use snus. UST has had a Swedish-style product known as Revel (2001) in test markets for several years, but has yet to broaden its distribution nationally. Last year, UST introduced Skoal Dry, another Swedish-style, pouch product. Its launch was partly born out of frustration over the difficulties associated with creating brand awareness for a product given the restrictions on marketing tobacco products. Even with the more recognizable brand, its been difficult. “This is a long, slow build,” said Dan Butler, president of UST’s U.S. Smokeless Tobacco unit. “You are changing consumer behavior.” Butler said he welcomes the competition from Marlboro Snus and Camel Snus because it will help to raise awareness. Unlike its rivals, Camel Snus is refrigerated until it is sold. All three companies have been trying to spread the word about the new products through Web sites dedicated to the products and direct mail campaigns targeted to their extensive databases of smokers. Although both Marlboro and Camel are well-known brands, Philip Morris clearly has the numbers on its side. Close to half of all U.S. smokers, smoke Marlboros, while only about 7% of U.S. smokers puff on a Camel. Reynolds is taking its marketing of Camel Snus a few steps further. The Winston-Salem, N.C. Read more...

November 25, 2007 - Philip Morris USA hosted on November 15, 2007 at Emeril's restaurant in South Beach (Miami Beach, FL) to convince people that they do not employ target marketing. Bill Phelps, manager of Media Affairs for PM USA, "Promotions are National, Marketing is broad based. We do not target ethnicities." In June 2007, a Coral Cables attorney filed suit against several tobacco companies including PM, accusing them of targeting black consumers. Phelps claims the future of PM is based upon developing ways to reduce the harm of the product and broadening the product base. ( "Philip Morris USA Discusses Target Marketing" by Tremene Triplett, Broward Times, 11/23/2007) It is interesting to note Philip Morris recently acquired John Middleton, Inc. the maker of pipe tobacco flavored cigars like Black & Mild. B&M is the second largest selling machine-made cigars in the United States - smoked mainly by young African Americans. (TobaccoWatch.org) Image by Sumner Hutcheson III - Click on Image to Enlarge.Read more...